Todd Dills

Canadian cube van driver’s three Santas

The Canadian canoe.ca news site reported a week ago today on the story of Vincent McCarthy, a Toronto-based Chevy cube van driver who, suffering from a severe case of sleep apnea, lost a previous job driving a cement truck earlier this year and, eventually, his house. The cube van and some personal possessions in the truck were all he had left when he parked it on Etobicoke Street in November and made his way to a homeless shelter for the night.

In the story, which you can read here, writer Michele Mandel detailed the towing and storage charges McCarthy had racked up in the intervening period (nearing $2,000) and told McCarthy’s story. It’s a fascinating one, made even more interesting by subsequent events. When Robert Polillo, owner of Express Roadside Recovery (not the company that towed McCarthy’s truck), read about McCarthy, he stepped up to help. “Polillo, 42, sent one of his drivers to pick McCarthy up from the shelter, buy him breakfast and then take him to the impound yard to pay his bill of more than $1,700,” wrote Mandel in this follow-up story, published the subsequent Sunday. “‘I’ve been helped before and I wanted to pass it on,’ [Polillo explained] modestly. ‘Especially at this time of year, it was hard to swallow.'” Before he knew it, McCarthy had three very particular Santas helping him out….

Follow the link above for the rest of the story, and here’s wishing you a happy remainder of the holidays this Christmas Eve.

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Todd Dills

Todd Dills is Senior Editor of Overdrive magazine and writes from Nashville, Tenn. He frequently covers business, regulatory and lifestyle topics for the magazine and at OverdriveOnline.com. His work on the “CSA’s Data Trail” series in Overdrive about the federal CSA program was awarded the highest honor in trade journalism – the “Grand Neal” – by American Business Media at the 2014 Jesse H. Neal Awards. Dills’ Channel 19 blog covers a grab bag of on-highway hearsay, owner-operator news and driver views from the roadways the nation over. His work in trucking journalism builds on a background of news feature, fiction and other creative writing and editing. Find him here at the Channel 19 blog and via his Twitter feed, or send tips to tdills@randallreilly.com or via phone at 205-907-2481.